The buzz in Hollywood these days is that every studio wants their own mega-franchise. After Disney and Marvel scored billions with their Avengers mega-franchise, we have Warner Bros. and DC trying to build one out of Superman and the Justice League, SONY trying to build one out of Spider-Man, and there are rumors that Universal is going to crossover all their classic monsters (starting with Dracula Untold), and that SONY wants to make one out of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. If you’re a screenwriter in Hollywood these days, plan for a mega-franchise.

I’m not a screenwriter in Hollywood these days, but I can still have fun planning a mega-franchise!

See what you have wrought!

The question, which movie franchises can become mega-franchises? Everybody with their hands on a superhero is already pushing for one. Star Wars is going to be a mindless series of sequels and spin-offs from now until the end of time. And I bet they’ll find a way to turn James Bond and Star Trek into some kind of mega-franchises before too long. Rebooted original crew teams up with rebooted Next Generation crew? Done! I’ll take my giant check now, Paramount!

In fact, all major Hollywood studios should get out their check books because I’m about to blow their minds with 6 potential mega-franchises just waiting to earn them billions!

6. Image Comics

Can you name them all?

We know this plan can work for superheroes, so why not the last remaining untapped superhero market? Image is the third largest comic book publishing company, and while their business model has changed in recent years, back in the 90s, they had comics almost popular enough to rival Marvel and DC. Everybody remembers Spawn, right? He got a movie, but Spawn came out in 1997, a whole year ahead of Blade, X-Men and the superhero movie revolution. What’s stopping Hollywood from trying again with Spawn and doing it right?

But why stop at Spawn? Image has a whole stable of semi-famous comic book characters who have crossed over multiple times. You’ve got Savage Dragon, The Maxx, Witchblade and Invincible as solo heroes, with teams like Youngblood and WildC.A.T.S. to round out the group. These are solid, recognizable superheroes who are languishing without big budget movies. Superhero moviemaking has changed a lot since Spawn bombed at the box office. Let the sensibilities and style of the modern industry breath new life into these classic characters.

Semi-classic?

And again, just do what Marvel did: make a bunch of solo/independent movies leading up to a big crossover. That’s the whole point, right? I know the characters have crossed over in the comics before, just snag one of those storylines to make it work.

5. Commercial Mascots

You know you’d watch this

I do not understand why we don’t yet live in a world with big budget movies about the likes of Ronald McDonald or Toucan Sam. Product placement already leeches into every film in theaters, and movies are being made out of popular toys like Battleship and Ouji boards, why not go a step further? Big studio executives are drooling to snap up any known property, and what’s better known than commercial mascots?

But, of course, you can’t just make Ronald McDonald the Movie, you’ve got to grit that stuff up! Just like Dracula Untold turned the classic story of Dracula into a superhero action film, all you’ve got to do is reinvent Ronald into a barbarian or a ninja or some other gritty reboot!

Or maybe samurais?

Then do the same with everybody else! Fast food mascots as mafia dons, like that picture above. Or maybe just treat cereal mascots as living characters who inhabit the same world. Don’t say they’re cereal mascots, just make movies about talking tigers, toucans and navy captains. Then, of course, bring them all together in a big crossover movie. That’s the key to this whole darn thing!

4. Mortal Kombat

Look at all these potential franchises!

Aren’t we all still waiting for that big Mortal Kombat revival? Remember when the guy who made all those awesome online short films was going to start a new big screen franchise? Whatever happened to those plans? Where’d that guy go? Well whatever you’re waiting for, Mortal Kombat, you waited long enough for mega-franchises to become a thing!

Mortal Kombat is filled with so many different characters! Dozens of them could handle stand-alone movies. Liu Kang and Kung Lao could star in a martial arts film. Raiden vs. Shao Khan in some godly war for the fate out Outland, with Katana and Mileena rounding out the cast. Sonya Blade and Jax could have an awesome buddy cop movie. And, of course, Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion in a ninja free-for-all that could easily include Sektor, Cyrax and Smoke! Plus Johnny Cage, maybe, could do something…

Or just stick to the awesome fight ninjas

Then, of course, you just use the Mortal Kombat tournament as the reason to bring them all together! All these awesome and outlandish characters who starred in their own films are suddenly brought together in a fight to the death, bringing with them all the drama you saw in their solo films. Team up the good guys from all the movies. Team up the bad guys! Put the fate of Earthrealm in the balance!

You can’t tell me that whoever holds the Mortal Kombat license right now hasn’t thought about this at least a little bit.

3. The Adversary Cycle

Not many pictures available…

Have you ever heard of the Adversary Cycle? Probably not, which makes it perfect for new audiences! The Adversary Cycle is six books penned by author F. Paul Wilson about a battle of good vs. evil, and Wilson mastered this mega-franchise stuff way back in the 80s and 90s! Each book tells the story of a different protagonist dealing with a growing threat to the world until he brings them all together in the finale, Nightworld. Wilson was bringing ragtag heroes together to save the world decades before The Avengers movie. Each book stands on its own (for the most part), so you’ve got a series of solo movies all building up to one great crossover!

The first book, The Keep, was already made into a movie once upon a time, but nobody knows about it or remembers it, so we can start fresh. The Keep takes place during World War II, when a Nazi platoon seizes an ancient castle and unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil named Rasalom. The return of Rasaolm forces the immortal hero Glaeken out of retirement to kill him. This leads to the novel Reborn, when Rasalom is born again as an infant human and starts the whole Cycle of evil all over again. The rest of the novels involve various heroes and other characters discovering the mystical world that Rasalom heralds. These include The Touch, The Tomb, Reprisal and, eventually, Nightworld.

Just book covers…

Repairman Jack is the real star of the series. He was the main character in The Tomb, the second book in the Adversary Cycle. But Jack was so popular that Wilson returned to the character for a dozen new novels in the 90s and 00s that greatly expanded the battle between good and evil, leading Wilson to heavily rewrite Nightworld to make it even cooler! Repairman Jack is basically a one man A-Team. He’s an urban fixer, a guy who lives off the grid and, for the right price, will help you with your problems. He’s cooler than Jason Bourne and has a lot more interesting adventures, so I don’t know why Repairman Jack isn’t already a movie star.

Almost all of the books in the Adversary Cycle could be their own movie. The Keep is about Nazis. Reborn and Reprisal are about the rebirth of Rasalom and the family that has to deal with him. The Touch is about an ancient healing power that’s necessary to save the world, and how a small town doctor inherits the power in the build-up to Nightworld. And The Tomb and Repairman Jack could be their own trilogy, if not more!

All leading up to Nightworld, when the various heroes from the various books come together to defeat Rasalom once and for all! Seriously, they’re great books!

2. Every Property

Just all of them

Just crossover every famous character you can think of, especially if they’re in the public domain! Sherlock Holmes meets Zorro! James Bond meets Indiana Jones! Robocop meets the Ninja Turtles meets Voltron! Just buy up all the licensing rights that you can and start making movies where these characters exist in the same universe. The old timey adventures of Sherlock and Zorro could lead to the mid-timey adventures of Bond and Jones could lead to the modern day action-packed fun of G.I. Joe and the Transformers! Then use time travel to bring them together for the big, climactic crossover movie! How else is the Lone Ranger going to meet Shaft?

Where does the the time travel come from, you ask? Well Doc Brown and Marty McFly haven’t been too busy lately! Sign them up!

Or the Doctor. Whoever.

Seriously, though, how cool would it be to get Sean Connery out of retirement for one more go as James Bond, then have him team up with Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones? They’re old friends, right? It would have to be a period piece, I know, but so what? It could still work! Connery was Bond in the 60s and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took place in the 50s…look, the timeline might not be perfect, but nobody will care! It would be the greatest film team-up of all time!

You’ll just have to figure out how to get Sean Connery out of retirement. Money, maybe?

1. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

King of the Britons!

There have been King Arthur movies since the dawn of cinema, but none of them have tried their hand at mega-franchising. Now’s the perfect opportunity! Not only are the legends in the public domain, but the ‘Knights of the Round Table’ is a team known the world over! And it’s not just a bunch of similar knights, there’s a whole host of unique and interesting characters who could star in their own solo films. You could do a King Arthur origin story as the stable boy who finds Excalibur and becomes king (worked for Disney). You could do a film about Lancelot doing whatever it is Lancelot does. Guenevere could carry her own movie, setting up a love story with her, Arthur and Lancelot.

And then there’s Merlin! Come on! Merlin and his world of magic could easily support its own movie!

I know that’s Gandalf, but the imagery would be the same

Once you’ve got those solo flicks out of the way, you then bring everybody together for the big crossover: ‘Camelot: The Knights of the Round Table’. Guys like Sir Gallahad and Sir Robin could be your Hawkeyes. And you’ve got pre-made villains in Morgana le Fay and Mordred, and it would be a snap to turn the Holy Grail into the new Tesseract.

This mega-franchise writes itself. And I’ll gladly sell this idea to any studio exec hungry enough to pay my not-too-considerable fee. Hurry up though before the mega-franchise strategy goes bust.

Like that’ll ever happen!

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